


For the Best

by orphan_account



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, Mentioned Past Zer0/Unknown Character, Miscarriage, Unplanned Pregnancy, and then i guess by default
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 23:51:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17273498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: There was never a sign that something was about to go wrong.Life was good. The team was back together, the Vault Hunter circle had grown with the addition of some exciting new faces, and they were kicking ass without the threat of planetary genocide at the hands of a psychopath hanging over their heads.Then Zer0 stumbled.





	For the Best

**Author's Note:**

> I've had a bad time this winter and decided to project onto my favorite characters.
> 
> In this fic, Zer0 is not human and comes from a species where there is no division of sex (i.e. everyone can get pregnant and get someone else pregnant), but chooses to use he/him pronouns.

There was never a sign that something was about to go wrong.

When Axton got the message that he and his old teammates were wanted back on Pandora, he caught the very next shuttle out, eager for a new mission, and eager to see his friends again.

One by one over the next several days, the squad came back together. There’d been hugs, laughter, drinking, and storytelling while they waited for the next directive - there was a war ahead of them, but not even Lilith or Athena seemed to know what they were preparing to face. So, the war could wait - for now, the vault hunters were just happy to be reunited.

Axton was particularly happy - and anxious - to see Zer0. They’d parted on a good note, or so he thought. Going their separate ways was just the natural conclusion, a silent agreement that a true commitment to each other just didn’t fit into the big pictures. But for him, the flame had never really died, and now here they were again.

The assassin hadn’t expressed as much joy to see Axton as Axton felt seeing him, and there was a wall between them that hadn’t been there since their very first meeting - since they were strangers.

Was that what they were now? Strangers? Axton felt compelled to apologize for ever leaving, almost shocked by the degree of heartache he felt at the idea that he and this sexy, mysterious alien were irrevocably a thing of the past.

His heartache was soothed quickly, though. A few too many late-night drinks, some thoughtless flirting, and soon enough Zer0 was leaning against Axton’s shoulder, a heart blazing across his dark helmet like nothing had changed.

And when Zer0 stripped and spread his lips to let Axton sink into that sweet wet heat, Axton finally felt like he was home again.

The thrill of reunion pulsed in the team’s veins for days, amplified by an itch _do_ something in the absence of any orders. There may not have been a mission yet, but Pandora never had a shortage of bandits to shoot.

So, life was good. The team was back together, the Vault Hunter circle had grown with the addition of some exciting new faces, and they were kicking ass without the threat of planetary genocide at the hands of a psychopath hanging over their heads.

Then Zer0 stumbled.

No one would have noticed had they been more distracted by the fight, but most of the marauders in the camp had already been cleared out. The alien recovered quickly enough, not longer than a couple blinks of the eye, but Axton saw it (his gaze had a habit of lingering on the other, even when it was a distraction).

The rest of them had had their fair share of trips, slips, and other embarrassing altercations with the environment. But Zero was different, always so agile and calculated. He’d never make a clumsy mistake like that.

If anyone else saw, they never showed it, so Axton made sure to be subtle when he scanned the area to spot what could have possibly made Zer0 trip. But there was nothing - the ground was flat, and Axton had to consider that maybe he hadn’t seen Zer0 trip at all, but rather falter from shock or pain.

Axton wondered if one of the bandits had managed to pierce the assassin's shield and taking a hit had just caught him off guard. It was possible, and if Zer0 had managed to use a med hypo unnoticed (as he did with many things), it would explain the lack of blood.

Satisfied with that explanation, Axton relaxed. As the group made their way back to Sanctuary, Zer0 said nothing as per usual, and in the silence Axton allowed himself to daydream of holding that skinny body again when they returned, running his hands across the leathery skin and listening to Zer0’s moans as Axton kissed the new scar and hot him off with his fingers. The sweet image put a dopey smile on Axton’s face for the rest of the day, and he eagerly awaited Zer0’s arrival as the Vault Hunters slowly congregated in the bar for the night as usual.

But minutes at the bar turned into an hour, then two, then three. He’d been the first to notice that Zer0 hadn’t shown up yet, but even the others had begun commenting on it by the time the night had truly settled in.

The earlier stumble weighed on Axton’s mind. He’d been happy to pass it off as a fluke, and Zer0 was more than capable of taking care of himself, but Axton’s gut was sinking. Something was very wrong. He didn’t know what yet, and he didn’t know how to explain it, but he knew. So, Axton the others goodnight, and set out to find him.

Strangely enough, finding the assassin was effortless, a happy accident. Axton had been prepared to look all over the small city, but while changing into clean clothes in his room at the inn before heading out to search, Axton heard water running in the bathroom.

The door had been closed, but not locked, and it creaked open as Axton carefully entered the room. A faint blue glow from the small window to the outside illuminated the walls of the tub where Zer0 sat. His knees were pulled up to his chest, and water from the tub faucet echoed as it hit the metal below it. Otherwise, the room was dark and silent, and it put Axton on edge.

He approached the tub and could see that Zer0 was naked save for the helmet. He expected a head tilt, some form of acknowledgment, maybe even a threat to get out, but there was no reaction as Axton approached. Closer, he could see that Zer0 had one hand at the bottom of the tub, methodically swishing the water around before it rushed down the drain.

Hoping the silence was a sign that his presence wasn’t unwelcome, Axton knelt next to the side of the basin and wondered what to say. He glanced into the water and noticed dark streaks polluting the water as it flowed away from where Zer0 sat.

“Where are you hurt?” Axton took stock of the alien’s body, searching for the bullet wound he just knew had to be there. “You got shot earlier, right? You don’t gotta hide it like this, it happens. But if you’re still bleeding you really should get it checked out - that’s what Zed’s here for.”

But Zer0 just shook his head.

“No? Which part of that are you saying no to?”

“I didn’t get shot.” He sounded almost regretful.

It gave Axton pause; why would his friend deny being injured? All of them had been shot before, it wasn’t something to be ashamed or secretive of, it just happened. And why was he hiding away in a bathtub instead of getting help? Even if Zer0 had some freaky alien healing ability that Axton didn’t know about, it would still be smarter to get it checked out and patched up with more than just some med hypo laying in a dumpster at a bandit camp.

“Listen, I didn’t say anything cause I know you can take care of yourself better than the rest of us combined, but I saw you get hit, you don’t gotta lie to me about it.”

“I didn’t get shot.” Zer0 repeated. There was something there that Axton didn’t like. He couldn’t place the emotion, but there was almost an urgency, a plea to be left alone and a cry for help all in one. Had they not spent so much time together, the subtle red flag would’ve been lost on the commando.

Axton struggled for words. He had to be careful; the chance of Zer0 admitting to anything he didn’t already want to admit was slim - one slip up on Axton’s end, and he’d never find out what was wrong.  “Zee, there’s...there’s _blood_ in the bathtub, I can see it. And I saw you stumble earlier at the camp,” he paused, waiting to see if Zer0 would talk, but only more silence followed. “You know, if you’re hurt, that affects us all. So if you aren’t going to tell me so I can help you, can you at least tell me so we can fix it as a team?”

Nothing, again. As Axton waited and his eyes adjusted to the dark, he looked over Zer0’s body again. He still couldn’t see the source of the blood.

About ten minutes of tense silence later, Zer0 finally spoke up again.

“This blood is not from/ an injury at the hands/ of somebody else.”

“...Huh?” That didn’t make sense, how could anyone bleed without getting hurt?

Zer0 suddenly shifted in the tub, spreading his knees apart and taking his hand out of the water to dip his fingers into the fold between his legs. Axton’s eyes followed the movement with bewilderment

Confusion gave way to shock, however, when Zer0 removed his fingers, presenting the thick blood that coated them.

There was a jolt of fear, a flare of anger. Zer0 may have had roughly the same genitals as humans that regularly bled like this, but Zer0 was not human; Axton suspected that this wasn’t supposed to happen. The fact that Zer0 was showing him the blood as if it were some sort of explanation told Axton that he suspected correctly.

“What...what is that?” Possibilities flooded his head, the most obvious being that someone had hurt Zer0 much, much worse than he originally thought. Axton had to restrain himself from demanding to know who’d done it, so he could find them, tie them down, and let the assassin personally rip them apart. But Zer0 insisted that he hadn’t been injured by someone else, so Axton reluctantly forced himself to wait for more information.

But minutes passed, and it didn’t seem like Zer0 was going to tell him anything else any time soon. As his imagination continued to run wild, another possibility crossed Axton’s mind. It couldn’t be possible, but once the seed was planted, it flourished and took control, and he just had to ask.

“Zee, are you...or I mean, were you…” Axton trailed off, already feeling stupid for asking, but letting eyes linger on the alien’s small stomach, anyway.

“Yes.”

His head snapped up, eyes wide. He’d expected Zer0 to call him an idiot, kick him out for even suggesting it. He hadn’t prepared for a ‘yes’.

A hurricane of emotions swirled inside him: shock, disbelief, fear, anger.

There must have been a misunderstanding, right? He didn’t even think Zer0 _could_ get knocked up - certainly the assassin would’ve demanded protection from the first time they started sleeping together if he could. But weren’t the same species, maybe Zer0 had also been certain that it wasn’t possible.

He was angry that it’d been hidden from him. It may not have been his personal right to know, but this wasn’t some small deal - this affected all of them, and Axton couldn’t understand why Zer0 hadn’t said something the second they’d all been called to work together again.

More than anything, though, betrayal weighed heavy on his mind. Axton wasn’t stupid, he could do the math - there was no way it’d been his. They hadn’t seen each other in over a year until just a few days before. A small part of him hoped that these things just took much... _much_ longer to progress for Zer0’s species, but it was grasping at straws; Zer0 didn’t look any different from the day they parted - this was fresh, from someone that was decidedly not Axton.

It wasn’t really his place to feel betrayed, though, was it? They’d never been exclusive, Axton was the one who left Pandora, and Zer0 had been perfectly free to get involved with anyone he wanted. So, who was is then? Someone Axton knew? Were they even human? As far as he knew, Zer0 had never left Pandora after killing Jack, so it seemed like it would’ve had to be. A very small part of him hoped that Zer0 had simply gotten lonely and slept with some rando bandit that their team had since killed by now.

So selfish.

Zer0 looked tense, a small tremble in his legs, both forearms now wrapped tight around his stomach. He looked like he was hurting, bad. Axton felt guilty for feeling anything but concern.

“Does it...Are you in pain? Does it hurt?”

“It’s agony.” His voice sounded like it, too.

“Shit...Is there anything I can do to help?”

Zer0 shook his head.

There didn’t seem to be much else for Axton to do, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave, and kneeling on the hard floor was getting uncomfortable.

“Can I get in there with you?”

It looked like he was going to be denied when Zer0 didn’t respond right away, and there were no projections on his helmet to indicate what he was thinking. But eventually, he accepted.

Axton made quick work of his clothes, folding them neatly in the corner before coming to sink into the tub behind his partner, glad that the water was a little warm. Zer0 didn’t lean back into him, but he closed the space anyway to rest his head on the alien’s shoulder, loosely wrapping his arms over Zer0’s.

They stayed there for a long time, even long after the water became frigid. Zer0 shivered occasionally, but Axton knew it wasn’t from the cold. He never knew there’d be so much blood, and it was sickening to watch, but he stayed focus, ready to haul Zer0 down to Zed the moment something took a turn for the worst. Hours passed just like that, and it must have been morning before either of them spoke again.

“How far along were you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh...Well, when did you, you know... find out?”

“I didn’t. This was…unexpected,” Zer0’s voice softened on the last word. Axton felt a little better then, knowing that Zer0 hadn’t intentionally kept this a secret from the rest of them, but he wondered if it was insensitive to be feeling relieved at that moment. Afraid of seeming intrusive, he refrained from asking what he wondered, now. Zer0 knew anyway.

“To find out like this/ brings me no sadness or loss. / It was not wanted.”

“Yeah....Makes sense, I guess. Probably better you feel that way… You know, I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this, but after Sarah and I got married, everything was going our way for a few months. Neither of us had wanted kids but...I dunno, something about being married, having a home, being happy, I guess we both lost sight of reality. Stopped using protection, figured that whatever happened, happened, and we could handle it. For a while...seemed like it wasn’t meant to be, it just never happened.

Then things started getting rough again, we were fighting a lot, mostly about me - she said the only thing I could commit to was making money and looking cool. We were too busy trying to make the relationship work that we forgot to start trying _not_ to get pregnant again. Naturally that’s exactly when it happened,” he laughed a little, the irony finally feeling a little funny instead of terrifying. “She knew pretty much immediately, it was rough from the start. Mood swings, back aches, anxiety, cramping - it sucked. ‘Bout two months later, though, she miscarried, too. Doctor said it was probably caused by too much stress, said that it probably wouldn’t happen again if we waited to try again when our lives were more settled. But I think that was about it for her. I got discharged, and the last thing she did before divorcing me was making sure I got off the planet alive.

It sucked but...I nearly have a heart attack when I think about what it would’ve been like if she’d stayed pregnant, you know? It woulda been a disaster…Shit, I’m rambling, aren’t I? Sorry ‘bout that,” Axton scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Yes, you are,” but there was no irritation in Zer0’s voice. He sighed, and for the first time in hours, leaned back against Axton’s chest. “I like listening.”

Axton smiled at that. “Thanks, I like talking.” He held Zer0 a little tighter, feeling the last of the wall between them dissolve. “Whatever you feel is okay, though, okay? Even if you didn’t want this, even if it’s the worst time possible - which it is, don’t get me wrong on that, we all need you 100% if we’re gonna win this war. But no one’s going to judge you for this. And no one’s going to judge you if you’re upset, too.”

Zer0 just nodded, quiet as usual.

Morning came, and they were forced to get out and dry off. It’d been easy to forget that Zer0 was in pain while sitting together, but Axton watched helplessly as the other struggled move around to get all of his clothes on. He asked multiple times Zer0 needed a rag, towels, pads, anything to soak up the blood that was still flowing freely, but he was turned down every time.

“My clothes have seen worse,” was the only explanation given. Couldn’t argue with that.

When they saw the rest of their friends that day, neither of them said a word. Zer0 hadn’t asked Axton to keep quiet, but he didn’t need to.

 ….

It took almost two weeks for the bleeding to stop, and they were exhausted and sore from night after night of catching their sleep in the safety of that bathtub. Thankfully, no one questioned their absence in that time - Axton just played along when usually Gaige or Salvador tried to tease them for “making up for lost time.”

And when it was over, life went on.

He decided ultimately not to ask who the other would-be parent had been. It wasn’t his right, and it didn’t really matter anymore; Zer0 was okay, now, and a war was around the corner, approaching faster every day. And just like this bump in the road - just like everything this team had ever been through - they were going to get through it together.

They were with family now, and Axton couldn’t be happier.

 

 

 

 


End file.
